Open AccessEffect of Impurity Elements on Localized Corrosion of Zirconium in Chloride Containing Environment
Author(s) -
Yusuke Tsutsumi,
Izumi Muto,
Shigeyuki Nakano,
Junichi Tsukada,
Tomoyo Manaka,
Peng Chen,
Maki Ashida,
Yu Sugawara,
M. Shimojo,
Nobuyoshi Hara,
Hideki Katayama,
Takao Hanawa
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of the electrochemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 271
eISSN - 1945-7111
pISSN - 0013-4651
DOI - 10.1149/1945-7111/abc5d8
Subject(s) - zirconium , tin , corrosion , materials science , zirconium alloy , impurity , metallurgy , chloride , intermetallic , pitting corrosion , chemistry , alloy , organic chemistry
To clarify the mechanism of localized corrosion on zirconium in chloride environments, corrosion tests of zirconium and its alloys were performed using conventional and micron-scale measurement systems with surface areas of 0.35 cm 2 and less than 0.04 cm 2 , respectively. The pitting potential significantly dropped by more than 1 V when zirconium was alloyed with over 10 mol% of tin. Zr 4 Sn and Zr 5 Sn 3 intermetallics hindered the formation of passive films on the substrate. Additionally, tin was found on the surface of a commercially pure zirconium. From the micron-scale measurement results, the inclusion with the highest concentration of tin (at least 0.44 mol%) in the tested area was selected as the preferential initiation site for pitting corrosion. Thus, tin played an important role in determining the corrosion resistance of zirconium in chloride environments.